A Chance To Petition For Reform

March 31, 1997|The Morning Call

If the American people are outraged -- as they should be -- over a political system that increasingly depends on megabucks contributions from favor-seeking donors, they aren't showing it. At least they did not when Project Independence got under way in Boston and Philadelphia last week.

Project Independence is a joint effort by Common Cause and Campaign For America to

create a grassroots push for campaign spending reform. Its goal is to collect 1.776 million signatures by July 4 on a "Declaration For Independence" urging Congress to enact bipartisan campaign reform legislation. The drive was kicked off at rallies at two cradles of American liberty -- Boston's Faneuil Hall and Philadelphia's Independence Hall -- on Wednesday and Thursday. Leading the charge at both events were Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and John McCain, R-Ariz., authors of the most viable legislation to curb soft-money donations and special-interest gifts to federal campaigns.

Both events were greeted by public indifference. That plays well with the significant segment of Congress that accepts Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's view that an unlimited flow of cash seeking to influence the outcome of elections is "the American way." But it has led to what the April 7 New Republic characterizes as "the sleaze that dare not speak its name."

Its article "The Dirty Hill" is peppered with examples of shameless solicitations by the 535 solicitors who occupy Capitol Hill. It reminds us that before that $50,000 check was passed in the White House, GOP Conference Chairman John Boehner handed out $500 checks on the House floor. They came from the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. immediately after the Appropriations Committee voted against ending tobacco price supports.

The opportunities to rub shoulders or break bread with members are limitless. Margaritas and enchiladas with Rep. Christopher Cannon, R-Calif., are $500. A chance to sunbathe with Democratic Sens. Bob Kerrey and John Breaux on Nantucket carries a $15,000 price tag.

All this and more are unveiled in The New Republic's litany of shame, in which soft money is routed and rerouted so as to become virtually untraceable. A PAC check is returned with a notation that there was a zero missing. Leadership PACs are slush funds. Money is routinely laundered to hide its origin. Overseeing all this is a Federal Election Commission that, in the words of Sen. Kerry, D-Neb., was created to do nothing. "Congress intentionally created the weakest regulatory agency because it regulates us."

The New Republic names eight members of Congress, including Pennsylvania Reps. Bud Shuster and Frank Mascara, who "may have been party to breaking the law in their fund-raising efforts." They should be investigated as vigorously as Congress is planning to investigate White House fund-raising.

Meanwhile the public should take these horrible examples to heart. The way Congress is acting, 1.776 million signatures might not be enough to convince the honorables of the error of their ways. So perhaps the folks behind Project Independence should opt for 17,760,000 signatures. That ought to convince the diehards in Washington to clean up their act.